Hailee Harding of Graydon Sealy Secondary School is the new Junior Minister of Tourism, thanks to hard work and the support of many.
This was expressed by the 16-year-old yesterday as she won the competition in the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.’s Barbados Tourism Youth Congress 2024, at Hilton Barbados, Needham’s Point, St. Michael.
Mikkel Robertson of Alexandra School placed second, while Malika Straker of the Lester Vaughan School came third. The other contestants were Dalinda Maynard of Princess Margaret Secondary School, Jaydn Gill of Harrison College, and Makayla Lowe of The Ellerslie School.
On being declared the winner, the young student could not contain her delight and wept openly. “I can’t believe I have done it; I’ve worked so hard. I put in so much effort. So many people worked with me; so many people were telling me I could do it; so many people supported me.
“So many people had my back behind this and all I could think about coming into this [competition] was how I didn’t want to let those people down; how I wanted to give them something to be proud of and how I wanted to carry their support with me all the way. I was always thinking that I can’t aim for first place if I want to do well. I have to aim to go regional and that’s what I was thinking the entire time,” she cried.
The winning student expressed thanks to family, friends, teachers, and well-wishers. She also revealed that behind the scenes everyone pitched in and added: “What my teachers said really did come true. ‘It really did take a village … and I can’t forget to thank God because as I was sitting up there, all I could do is pray in that moment to help me to focus; to help me to be fluent; to help me to present this the way I want to and I was just like the only thing missing in this moment for me is to ask God to stay by my side and to ask God to help me to focus, to help me to be fluent, to help me to present this the way I want to…. You imagine I won by one point.”
As one of her prizes, Hailee will be representing Barbados at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) Regional Youth Congress, where she will vie for the Regional Junior Minister of Tourism title during the CTO’s State of The Industry Conference in Cayman Islands in September.
Hailee, who takes over from last year’s winner, Jordan Grieg of Harrison College, was encouraged by him, through his review of his 2023 tenure, “to take opportunities and put yourself out there”. She was also told that it was a once in a life-time opportunity “to make many other youth voices heard” and get others involved in the sector.
Meanwhile, BTMI’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrea Franklin, calling the occasion an “exciting final” said she hoped many of the students would remain in the tourism industry, as over the years, they had seen “the instance of people moving away from working in the sector, and we need to get young minds back in tourism”.
Urging them to continue their education in the field, Ms. Franklin noted the Tourism Youth Congress provides the essential gateway for the industry to better engage Barbadian youth on critical tourism matters and to stimulate greater awareness and meaningful discourse regarding the industry.
While emphasising that the competition provides first-hand experience of Barbados’ unique product, she said it enticed many visitors to make it their “perennial destination of choice”.
The Congress, she added, plays an integral part in shaping the island’s future tourism leaders, leading to today’s youth being tomorrow’s decision makers, who would directly influence the sector’s sustainable expansion.
Ms. Franklin stressed: “Tourism continues to be the mainstay of our country’s economic growth and therefore safeguarding the future of the industry is of paramount importance.”